25. Holding the Branch

Constant choices between perfection and imperfection.

When this creature earns perfection, it [becomes drawn] close to its Creator by virtue of resembling Him. Besides this, however, through its very earning of perfection, it becomes drawn to Him continually – until, ultimately, its earning of perfection and its bonding in closeness to Him are all one condition.

The reason for this is that G-d's essence is true perfection. All perfection must therefore be associated with Him, as a branch is attached to its root. Therefore, even though the Root of perfection cannot be attained, all true perfection is ultimately derived and transmitted from this Root.

The Ramchal is clarifying what we mean by "choosing perfection." This idea is a bit deep and abstract. Let's look at the second paragraph first:

All perfection must therefore be associated with Him, as a branch is attached to its root.

In our last lesson, we saw that the world is essentially an arena where free will choices take place. Its whole purpose is to provide man with the ability to choose elements of perfection by his own free will, thereby making him more G-d-like and giving him the pleasure of a closer relationship with G-d.

This conclusion forces us to look at physical reality from a new perspective. Instead of seeing things for what they are on a purely physical level, the physical manifestation is really just an outer guise. Everything has an inner essence of either "perfection" or "deficiency," or some combination thereof.

The way we relate to anything in the world depends on our relationship, experiences and understanding of them. For example, if you and I were sitting together on a park bench and your dog walked, we would have very different reactions. We're both seeing the exact same animal, but you'll have some instant emotional reaction, and for me it's "just another dog."

Similarly, we could both be walking down the street and begin to feel rain. For you, it's depressing because you were going to have a family picnic this afternoon (with the dog, of course), while I'm excited because I've been worried lately about my tomato crops drying out.

In other words, as much as there is an objective reality, what's meaningful to us is how we personally relate to that reality. The Ramchal is telling us that the underlying essence of things is that they are a tool to either help me perfect myself and build a relationship with G-d, or a means of accomplishing the opposite.

When we get an appeal in the mail for a charity cause, and we know it's legitimate and that we can afford to give, we should understand that we're not just holding an ordinary piece of paper. We're literally holding a piece of perfection. ("Giving" is a paramount example of perfection because it's G-d's most readily-apparent trait.) Like the Ramchal says, we're not holding the actual root, i.e. we don't have G-d in the palm of our hands, but we are holding a "branch," a physical manifestation of G-d's perfection in this world.1 That's really what this piece of paper is.

The opposite unfortunately holds true as well. Imagine you hear a nasty rumor about someone you dislike. Sure, it's probably untrue, or at least exaggerated. But you have a strong desire to share it with others. What is that drive? It's not just human psychology, or a bunch of synaptic connections in your brain tissue that are creating an emotion. The drive is the essence of deficiency itself! Destructively gossiping about someone is harmful to them, and to you (and to the listener) in a way that actually affects our very being. It's not just saying words. It's making a choice to grab onto an element of deficiency, of lack, and incorporate it into ourselves and make ourselves less G-d-like.

Heavenly Scoreboard

Now we can examine the idea mentioned in the first paragraph above:

...through its very earning of perfection it becomes drawn to Him continually – until, ultimately, it's earning of perfection and its bonding in closeness to Him are all one condition.

How do we normally understand the idea of doing a righteous act, or a mitzvah? For example, you make a donation to a charitable cause, or recite a blessing over food. We would think that in some heavenly place, that mitzvah goes on a score card, and when we meet our Maker, He tallies up the score and gives us our reward.

Based on what we've learned, however, we have a new model: When we choose an act of perfection, we actually undergo a direct change and become more G-d-like.

Given what the Ramchal is mentioning now, we can take it even a step further: When we choose an act of perfection (e.g. writing a check to charity), we are at that moment holding onto "the branch," and on a spiritual level actually experiencing the closeness with our Creator that we've just created.

As an analogy:

1) Simple Level: Understanding a mitzvah

"I work hard all month, and at the end of the month I get my paycheck."

EQUALS

"I spend my life doing acts of spirituality/perfection/goodness, and at the end (afterlife) I get my reward."

2) Deeper Level: Choosing Perfection

"I learn Hebrew so that when I move to Israel I'll feel comfortable and be able to take care of myself."

EQUALS

"I invest my time in becoming more G-d-like and spiritual so that when I connect to G-d, it's a deeper experience."

3) Deepest Level: Root and Branches

"I enjoy cold strawberry ice cream on a hot summer day."

EQUALS

"I feel connected to G-d with every free will choice that I make."

This is what the Ramchal means when he says that the "earning of perfection and its bonding in closeness to him are all one condition."

It requires a huge paradigm shift to now look at the underlying reality of everything in our lives – our relationships, our moral choices, our needs and the needs of those around us, our responsibilities, the state of the world... All of it has to be seen as representing a deeper reality – constant choices between perfection and imperfection.

What do we mean by, "When you're holding an appeal to charity in your hands, you're holding an element of perfection"?

How is that different than saying, "You're holding a piece of paper that can earn you an element of perfection"?

Give an example of how a mitzvah like making a blessing can operate on the three levels: simple, choosing perfection, and grabbing the branch.

The Ramchal will say this explicitly in the last paragraph of 1.1.3 – see next installment.

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About the Author

Rabbi Moshe Zeldman performed undergraduate work in Artificial Intelligence and Philosophy at the University of Toronto, and has rabbinic ordination from Aish HaTorah. He lectures on a wide variety of topics at Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem, and to audiences around the world. He is also involved with research into hidden codes in the Torah. He resides in Jerusalem with his wife and their five children.

I'm told that it's a mitzvah to become intoxicated on Purim. This puzzles me, because to my understanding, it is not considered a good thing to become intoxicated, period.

One of the characteristics of the at-risk youth is their use of drugs, including alcohol. In my experience, getting drunk doesn't reveal secrets. It makes people act stupid and irresponsible, doing things they would never do if they were sober. Also, I know a lot about the horrible health effects of abusing alcohol, because I work at a research center that focuses on addiction and substance abuse.

Also, I am an alcoholic, which means that if I drink, very bad things happen. I have not had a drink in 22 years, and I have no intention of starting now. Surely there must be instances where a person is excused from the obligation to drink. I don't see how Judaism could ever promote the idea of getting drunk. It just doesn't seem right.

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Putting aside for a moment all the spiritual and philosophical reasons for getting drunk on Purim, this remains an issue of common sense. Of course, teenagers should be warned of the dangers of acute alcohol ingestion. Of course, nobody should drink and drive. Of course, nobody should become so drunk to the point of negligence in performing mitzvot. And of course, a recovering alcoholic should not partake of alcohol on Purim.

Indeed, the Code of Jewish Law explicitly says that if one suspects the drinking may affect him negatively, then he should NOT drink.

Getting drunk on Purim is actually one of the most difficult mitzvot to do correctly. A person should only drink if it will lead to positive spiritual results - e.g. under the loosening affect of the alcohol, greater awareness will surface of the love for God and Torah found deep in the heart. (Perhaps if we were on a higher spiritual level, we wouldn't need to get drunk!)

Yet the Talmud still speaks of an obligation on Purim of "not knowing the difference between Blessed is Mordechai and Cursed is Haman." How then should a person who doesn't drink get the point of “not knowing”? Simple - just go to sleep! (Rama - OC 695:2)

All this applies to individuals. But the question remains - does drinking on Purim adversely affect the collective social health of the Jewish community?

The aversion to alcoholism is engrained into Jewish consciousness from a number of Biblical and Talmudic sources. There are the rebuking words of prophets - Isaiah 28:1, Hosea 3:1 with Rashi, and Amos 6:6, and the Zohar says that "The wicked stray after wine" (Midrash Ne'alam Parshat Vayera).

It is well known that the rate of alcoholism among Jews has historically been very low. Numerous medical, psychological and sociological studies have confirmed this. The connection between Judaism and sobriety is so evident, that the following conversation is reported by Lawrence Kelemen in "Permission to Receive":

When Dr. Mark Keller, editor of the Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol, commented that "practically all Jews do drink, and yet all the world knows that Jews hardly ever become alcoholics," his colleague, Dr. Howard Haggard, director of Yale's Laboratory of Applied Physiology, jokingly proposed converting alcoholics to the Jewish religion in order to immerse them in a culture with healthy attitudes toward drinking!

Perhaps we could suggest that it is precisely because of the use of alcohol in traditional ceremonies (Kiddush, Bris, Purim, etc.), that Jews experience such low rates of alcoholism. This ceremonial usage may actually act like an inoculation - i.e. injecting a safe amount that keeps the disease away.

Of course, as we said earlier, all this needs to be monitored with good common sense. Yet in my personal experience - having been in the company of Torah scholars who were totally drunk on Purim - they acted with extreme gentleness and joy. Amid the Jewish songs and beautiful words of Torah, every year the event is, for me, very special.

Adar 12 marks the dedication of Herod's renovations on the second Holy Temple in Jerusalem in 11 BCE. Herod was king of Judea in the first century BCE who constructed grand projects like the fortresses at Masada and Herodium, the city of Caesarea, and fortifications around the old city of Jerusalem. The most ambitious of Herod's projects was the re-building of the Temple, which was in disrepair after standing over 300 years. Herod's renovations included a huge man-made platform that remains today the largest man-made platform in the world. It took 10,000 men 10 years just to build the retaining walls around the Temple Mount; the Western Wall that we know today is part of that retaining wall. The Temple itself was a phenomenal site, covered in gold and marble. As the Talmud says, "He who has not seen Herod's building, has never in his life seen a truly grand building."

Some people gauge the value of themselves by what they own. But in reality, the entire concept of ownership of possessions is based on an illusion. When you obtain a material object, it does not become part of you. Ownership is merely your right to use specific objects whenever you wish.

How unfortunate is the person who has an ambition to cleave to something impossible to cleave to! Such a person will not obtain what he desires and will experience suffering.

Fortunate is the person whose ambition it is to acquire personal growth that is independent of external factors. Such a person will lead a happy and rewarding life.

With exercising patience you could have saved yourself 400 zuzim (Berachos 20a).

This Talmudic proverb arose from a case where someone was fined 400 zuzim because he acted in undue haste and insulted some one.

I was once pulling into a parking lot. Since I was a bit late for an important appointment, I was terribly annoyed that the lead car in the procession was creeping at a snail's pace. The driver immediately in front of me was showing his impatience by sounding his horn. In my aggravation, I wanted to join him, but I saw no real purpose in adding to the cacophony.

When the lead driver finally pulled into a parking space, I saw a wheelchair symbol on his rear license plate. He was handicapped and was obviously in need of the nearest parking space. I felt bad that I had harbored such hostile feelings about him, but was gratified that I had not sounded my horn, because then I would really have felt guilty for my lack of consideration.

This incident has helped me to delay my reactions to other frustrating situations until I have more time to evaluate all the circumstances. My motives do not stem from lofty principles, but from my desire to avoid having to feel guilt and remorse for having been foolish or inconsiderate.

Today I shall...

try to withhold impulsive reaction, bearing in mind that a hasty act performed without full knowledge of all the circumstances may cause me much distress.

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